Bill Gates III through the years

Follow Bill Gates from toddler years to now

By By JAKE ELLISON

on February 21, 2013 5:18 PM

Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty

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Gates and Steve Ballmer explain their company's position during a press conference in 2000 in Redmond regarding the US Justice Department's decision that ruled the software giant had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. (AFP PHOTO/Dan LEVINE) less

Gates and Steve Ballmer explain their company's position during a press conference in 2000 in Redmond regarding the US Justice Department's decision that ruled the software giant had violated the Sherman ... more

This picture from July 1959 shows Mary (Maxwell) Gates and her 3 1/2-year-old son, Bill, in a picture that first appeared on the pages of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Mary Gates was then chair of a Junior League project that had Junior League members visiting grade school classrooms with Museum of History and Industry artifacts, which is what the younger Gates is playing with here. The print, with marks from a photo editor, remained in the P-I collection, but the negative was donated to the Museum of History and Industry in 1976, a year after Bill Gates founded Microsoft. (MOHAI/Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection/seattlepi.com file)

This picture from July 1959 shows Mary (Maxwell) Gates and her 3 1/2-year-old son, Bill, in a picture that first appeared on the pages of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Mary Gates was then chair of a Junior

Gates at the PC Forum in Arizona in 1991. Photo-4231925.57204 - seattlepi.com

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Esther Dyson (left fore), from EDventure Holdings, speaks with Bill Gates (right), from Microsoft, as John Perry Barlow (center, with beard), from Electronic Frontier Foundation/Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and David Readerman (second right), from Shearson Leahman Hutton/Forward Management, along with another, unidentified man, listen during the annual PC Forum, Tucson, Arizona, 1991. less

Esther Dyson (left fore), from EDventure Holdings, speaks with Bill Gates (right), from Microsoft, as John Perry Barlow (center, with beard), from Electronic Frontier Foundation/Berkman Center for Internet and ... more

Gates announces the launch date for the Japanese version of Windows 98 in Tokyo.

Gates announces the launch date for the Japanese version of Windows 98 in Tokyo.

Photo: TORU YAMANAKA, Getty

Gates announces the launch date for the Japanese version of Windows... Photo-4231842.57204 - seattlepi.com

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Gates responds at a press conference in 2000 in Seattle to the Justice Department's decision that ruled the software giant had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Gates responds at a press conference in 2000 in Seattle to the Justice Department's decision that ruled the software giant had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Photo: DAN LEVINE, Getty

Gates responds at a press conference in 2000 in Seattle to the... Photo-4231826.57204 - seattlepi.com

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Gates and Steve Ballmer, recently made CEO and president of Microsoft, talk to members of the media during Forum 2000 at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond. Gates unveiled Microsoft's vision for the next generation of the Internet, called "Net" software. (AFP PHOTO/Jeff Christensen) less

Gates and Steve Ballmer, recently made CEO and president of Microsoft, talk to members of the media during Forum 2000 at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond. Gates unveiled Microsoft's vision for the next ... more

Photo: JEFF CHRISTENSEN, Getty

Gates and Steve Ballmer, recently made CEO and president of... Photo-4231825.57204 - seattlepi.com

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Bill Gates administers an oral polio vaccine to Nikunj Kumar, 5, of New Delhi, Sept. 14, 2000, as Madhu Krishna, program officer for the Gates Children's vaccine program in India, helps hold the child steady at the NDMC Maternal & Child Health Chanakyapuri clinic in New Delhi. Gates announced that the Foundation was awarding two grants totaling $30 million to benefit children and students in India. (Photo by Jeff Christensen/Liaison) less

Bill Gates administers an oral polio vaccine to Nikunj Kumar, 5, of New Delhi, Sept. 14, 2000, as Madhu Krishna, program officer for the Gates Children's vaccine program in India, helps hold the child steady ... more

Bill Gates Sr., (L) former South African President Nelson Mandela and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter hold babies at the Zola clinic, in the Soweto Township outside of Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002. The babies were born to mothers who tested positive for HIV. Bill Gates Sr. traveled in Africa with President Carter on a trip for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
(AFP PHOTO Jeff Christensen) less

Bill Gates Sr., (L) former South African President Nelson Mandela and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter hold babies at the Zola clinic, in the Soweto Township outside of Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002. ... more

Gates holds a Tablet PC at the announcement of the availability of the devices and Windows XP Tablet PC operating system in 2002 in New York.

Gates holds a Tablet PC at the announcement of the availability of the devices and Windows XP Tablet PC operating system in 2002 in New York.

Photo: STAN HONDA, Getty

Gates holds a Tablet PC at the announcement of the availability of... Photo-4231852.57204 - seattlepi.com

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Gates arrives in 2002 with his wife Melinda (L) at the US District Courthouse in Washington, DC for a rare court appearance in the hearing before US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who is considering a penalty for the firm's violation of US antitrust laws. less

Gates arrives in 2002 with his wife Melinda (L) at the US District Courthouse in Washington, DC for a rare court appearance in the hearing before US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who is considering a ... more

Photo: STEPHEN JAFFE, Getty

Gates arrives in 2002 with his wife Melinda (L) at the US District... Photo-4231850.57204 - seattlepi.com

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Melinda Gates and Bill Gates Sr. applaud as Microsoft co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates, gives the commencement speech at Harvard University in 2007 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Gates, who enrolled at Harvard in a pre-law program in 1973 and left in his junior year, received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree earlier in the day. less

Melinda Gates and Bill Gates Sr. applaud as Microsoft co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates, gives the commencement speech at Harvard University in 2007 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Gates, who enrolled at ... more

US billionaire investor Warren Buffett (L) and Microsoft founder Bill Gates (R) flip over their Dairy Queen Blizzard treats, the most successful product ever released in the history of Dairy Queen, a US desert chain with over 300 stores in China, at the opening of a new branch in Beijing on September 30, 2010. Gates and Buffett hosted a banquet the previous night for China's super rich that sparked debate about Chinese philanthropy, amid reports that wealthy invitees had been reluctant to attend. The two, who have already persuaded 40 wealthy US individuals to hand over more than half of their fortunes, had insisted they would not pressure attendees for money and simply wanted to learn about charity in China. Buffett is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway which owns Dairy Queen. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN less

US billionaire investor Warren Buffett (L) and Microsoft founder Bill Gates (R) flip over their Dairy Queen Blizzard treats, the most successful product ever released in the history of Dairy Queen, a US desert ... more

Former US President Bill Clinton (R), chairman of the William J. Clinton Foundation and Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee full committee hearing on "Building on Success: New Directions in Global Health" on March 10, 2010 on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. AFP PHOTO / Tim Sloan less

Former US President Bill Clinton (R), chairman of the William J. Clinton Foundation and Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ... more

Photo: TIM SLOAN, Getty

Former US President Bill Clinton (R), chairman of the William J.... Photo-4231840.57204 - seattlepi.com

Bill Gates smiles as he and his entourage visit Gularia village in Khagaria, about 170 km from Patna, on May 12, 2010. Gates on May 12 visited the village inhabited mainly by low-caste dalits (untouchables) during his stay in India's Bihar state, one of the country's poorest states. AFP PHOTO/STR less

Bill Gates smiles as he and his entourage visit Gularia village in Khagaria, about 170 km from Patna, on May 12, 2010. Gates on May 12 visited the village inhabited mainly by low-caste dalits (untouchables) ... more

Photo: STR, Getty

Bill Gates smiles as he and his entourage visit Gularia village in... Photo-4231876.57204 - seattlepi.com

Bill Gates looks on as his wife Melinda holds a toddler during their visit to a village at Patna district in India's Bihar's state on March 23, 2011. Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on March 23 toured the impoverished Indian state of Bihar ahead of a meeting to encourage the country's wealthiest people to give more money to charity. AFP PHOTO/STR less

Bill Gates looks on as his wife Melinda holds a toddler during their visit to a village at Patna district in India's Bihar's state on March 23, 2011. Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on March 23 toured the ... more

Actress Sharon Stone and honoree Bill Gates attend Together To End AIDS: An Evening To Benefit amfAR and GBCHealth at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on July 21, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage) less

Actress Sharon Stone and honoree Bill Gates attend Together To End AIDS: An Evening To Benefit amfAR and GBCHealth at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on July 21, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo ... more

Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, Bill Gates and the Chairwoman of the Governing Board of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center walk during the inauguration of the center, which was built with funds from their foundations, in Texcoco, Mexico State, on Feb. 13, 2013. (AFP PHOTO/Ronaldo Schemidt) less

Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, Bill Gates and the Chairwoman of the Governing Board of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center walk during the inauguration of the center, which was built with funds ... more